


It Just Is

by magickalmolly



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 14:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9239654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magickalmolly/pseuds/magickalmolly
Summary: Some love runs so deep that there’s no name for it. It just is.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written March 30, 2003.

Merry let himself fall down into the well-worn couch cushions with a soft thump and a sigh of contentment. He was never allowed to “throw himself against the furniture”, as he mother called it, but here at Bag-End there was no one to reprimand him if he did so. Before his hands had settled along the back of the sofa, Pippin was next to him, knees bent and toes curled under, leaning into Merry’s side with a sweet smile.

“Hoy there, Pip… scoot over. There’s a whole other half over there, you know.” Merry’s tone was teasingly gruff, and Pippin ignored him with a dismissive snort, snugging himself deeper into Merry’s side. Next to them both in his armchair, Frodo smiled at the exchange between his cousins, shaking his head.

“Don’t you two ever stop?” But Frodo laughed as he asked it, not expecting an answer. Pippin lifted his head from Merry’s shoulder, winding up to give one anyway when Sam entered the room, carrying with him a tray of hot cider. 

“Oh Sam, I would have helped you,” and Frodo rose from his chair to take the tray, shaking his head when Sam would object.

“See here now, Mister Frodo, it isn’t right -”

“No, I insist. You made us all a lovely dinner. Passing out a few mugs is the least I can do.” Sam ducked his head slightly at the praise, his cheeks turning a shade darker than normal as he relinquished the tray. Frodo handed earthenware mugs to both Merry and Pippin, then one to Sam before taking the last one for himself. 

“It weren’t anything, Mister Frodo. Just finishing my work for the day, is all.” And Sam moved to take the tray from Frodo, but Frodo was quicker, setting it aside and gentling Sam to sit on the loveseat with a hand on his broad shoulder. 

“Hush, Sam. You do far more than what you’re paid for, and you know it.” Sitting next to Sam with a tender smile, Frodo added softly, “And I appreciate every single one of them. Thank you.” Sam’s face reddened even more at this, and he tried to hide it by drinking from his mug.

The four hobbits sat in comfortable silence for a short while, sipping at their cider and watching the fireplace as the flames crackled and snapped. Pippin asked Frodo to read to them all, and he did so in his soft lilting voice, slowly flipping pages from a great book across his knee until his eyes grew tired. Merry took the book from Frodo then, picking up where his cousin had left off, but stopped soon after when he saw that both Pippin and Frodo had fallen asleep. 

Pippin’s head was resting heavily on Merry’s shoulder, mouth hanging slack and snoring softly, blissfully slumbering. Frodo’s posture mirrored Pippin’s, his cheek pressed against the thick cotton of Sam’s shirt, eyes fluttering softly with dreaming. Sam sat very still, the expression on his face a mixture of happiness and embarrassment, and Merry smiled to see it.

Draping his arm around Pippin’s slim shoulders and pulling the sleeping hobbit closer, Merry spoke quietly. “You know, he’d not be so comfortable to fall asleep like that next to just anyone.” Sam’s eyes widened in surprise at this, and he shifted a little, feeling the heat creep further up into his cheeks. 

“What do you mean exactly, Mister Merry?” Perhaps it wasn’t polite to ask, but Sam was more curious than gracious at the moment, and he very much wanted to know.

“It’s simply that he loves you, Sam. Just as you love him. He thinks of you as far more than his gardener.” Pippin snuffled and shifted in his sleep, wrapping an arm around Merry’s round belly before settling down again. Distracted by his movements, Merry’s eyes dropped to Pippin and he smiled tenderly. “And I love this little one far more than any other. He’s my very best friend, and he always will be. I’d do anything for him.”

Comforted by Merry’s words, Sam let his own eyes travel to Frodo’s sleeping face, reaching out shy fingers to touch gently where Frodo’s hand rested between them on the loveseat. Frodo’s fingers twitched, and then laced through Sam’s, curling and giving a gentle squeeze. Against Sam’s shoulder, Frodo smiled in his sleep. 

Giving into the impulse, Sam leaned over and nuzzled Frodo’s dark hair. Softly, he murmured, “And I’d do anything for him.”

“More than friends, Sam. Some love runs so deep that there’s no name for it. It just is.” Merry closed his eyes as he spoke, resting his cheek against Pippin’s soft curls. 

Smiling to himself, Sam tightened his brown fingers around Frodo’s pale and ink-stained ones, nodding faintly in agreement. “It just is.”

~fin~


End file.
